Georg Grozer was the best scorer during the last match between the two sides during the opening weekend of the 2010 FIVB World League

Katowice, Poland, July 7, 2010 - Poland are set to face of against Germany in the final weekend of the 2010 FIVB World League Intercontinental Rounds in Katowice, Poland, with Pool D still up for grabs.

The two matches could well be the last ones for both sides in this year’s competition although Germany could theoretically overtake Cuba, but they would have to claim all six points and count on two big losses from their Caribbean rival. Achieving even one of these goals will be extremely difficult as no one is even considering a loss in Poland. Daniel Castellani’s players are eager to take revenge for the two losses they suffered in Stuttgart at the beginning of the tournament.

"Those games weren’t our best performance," Polish wing spiker Michal Ruciak said. "We will do everything in our power to end this competition on a high note."

Despite the two losses against Cuba which eliminated the Poles from an appearance in the finals, the atmosphere in the Polish camp is a determined one.

"No one plans to give up," middle blocker Daniel Plinski added. "We want to defeat the Germans and prove that we are a solid team. We don’t feel we are worse than the Cubans. We know they can be beaten and the guys proved it in Cuba. Last weekend they beat us but we weren’t in optimal form. We believe that the matches against Germany will be whole different story. We don’t need any additional motivation for a game against Germany."

It is worth mentioning that the German team is coached by Raul Lozano, who previously worked with the Polish squad for four years and led them to a silver medal in the 2006 FIVB World Championships.

The Polish team will play without Michal Winarski and Lukasz Zygadlo. Winarski is still suffering from a knee injury while Zygadlo, after a brief conversation with coach Castellani, resigned from playing for the national team and left the group.

The matches will be held in Katowice’s Spodek on Thursday and Friday at 8pm local time.